Bolt Needed Little Time to Revitalize Track

By JERÉ LONGMAN

Published: December 27, 2009

In late May 2008, Usain Bolt of Jamaica met with reporters in a hotel in Midtown Manhattan. He had run the 100 meters only four times as a professional and was not yet sure he would compete in the event at the Beijing Olympics.

In fact, he said, he only ran the 100 to avoid having to train for the more grueling 400.

“Over the last few years, he has been preparing mentally and physically for the 200,” Glen Mills, Bolt’s coach, said at the time. “It could be foolhardy to abandon all that for one fast time.”

Two nights later, after a rain delay and a false start, Bolt sprinted down the track at Randalls Island in a startling 9.72 seconds, setting a world record in the 100.